Extended Stay America – Chicago – Darien

I booked last minute due to a late night at work. The front desk staff was friendly and even notified me that I was booked a smoking room by Orbitz. She then asked if I would like to be switched to a nonsmoking room and if I preferred a room away from the road for an easier nights rest.
Room is clean overall, although the kitchenette has some areas that show definite wear and tear. Some hotels with the kitchenette have all of the kitchen essentials stored in the room for convenience, but here you have to request what you need from the front desk such as dishes or silverware. If you need a hair dryer, you must get one from the front desk which is inconvenient if you discover this last minute like I did. I tried calling the front desk but my phone in my room wasn’t working properly and the receptionist couldn’t hear me.
The free wifi is extremely slow, but you can pay for faster speeds if you prefer. The breakfast is grab and go only. Fruit, wrapped muffins, coffee, oatmeal packs and granola bars. It would be nice to have at least one juice or milk option for those that don’t drink coffee.

Between the staff being so friendly and housekeeping doing a great job I would recommend this place to anyone. Very helpful with any questions I’ve had about the area and never seem annoyed or unwilling to help. Housekeeping is in here once a week and leaves the place looking so clean with new sheets and bedding. We are used to traveling in a travel trailer but with the weather we are having to stay here and it has been very pleasant.

I’ve been to a different Stay America before, and it was very nice and clean. So I decided to stay here while I was visiting Bolingbrook.
The staff was nice. The room was not very nice. The building was old, and not very clean.
There were food left in the fridge from people who stayed before… Yuck. Also the towels were stained, I was hesitent to use it on my face and body.

Large rooms and a full kitchen with full sized fridge but the room was pretty dirty (ie: dusty furniture, garbage under the bed, carpet felt almost sticky). We only paid 79 $/​night but I don’t really think it was worth that. Friendly staff.

I have stayed here three times, I love the hotel, the staff, the kitchen in each room. The rooms are clean, the staff is friendly. I will definitely stay here again.

SUMMARY: Only stay at this BARE-​BONES Extended Stay location if you need either/​or: a kitchenette (unfurnished), an on-​site coin-​op laundry, and/​or pricing.
A possible misconception is that this place is good for business travelers. It is highly populated by the contractor/​sub-​contractor types of business people. There is no facility for office/​computer/​printer.
**THE BAD**
Wi-​Fi «free»: It is free but unworkable. It is also a scam. They want you to upgrade at about $ 15 per week for «faster» service. So, they PURPOSELY throttle the regular wi-​fi. Now here is the kicker… you may pay the $ 15 for the faster wi-​fi but it is ONLY UP TO 3M (that equals ONE picture from your iphone or camera, yes, I said ONE) then it goes back down to the slow speed and you have to pay again!!! This is a complete rip-​off and a scam to you. Again, for business or even checking your Facebook, it is unworkable. This is unacceptable in modern society.
PHONE DATA: OK, so the Wi-​fi is horrible so you will just use your phone to look up things right? Maybe. My AT&T phone data service was spotty at best, my wife had better luck with her Verizon data service.
NO BUSINESS AREA: There is no business area to print, fax or whatever. I was told that if I needed something printed, I would have to email it to the front desk. Ha ha ha What if I have a PDF to print? 3.2M file? oops, better pay to upgrade the wi-​fi. Wow.
NO KITCHEN UTENSILS: The kitchenette has NOTHING in it. You have to go to the front desk if you want something. Want a coffee pot? …front desk. Want a spoon? Front desk. Want a pan and a spatula or a dish or a cup… front desk. No soap, no nothing. No paper towel, no nothing! I’m serious. Now, you CAN get some of these items at the front desk. Want ice? fill the provided ice tray with the horrible water. They do not have an ice machine in the whole place! Maybe I had unrealistic expectations but if I pay for a kitchenette, I expect some items to be furnished.
MAID SERVICE: Only once every 8 days! So you have to stay over a week to get any service. Our room needed vacuuming after a few days (sock/​towel lint, small tabs of paper, stuff like that was on the floor after a few days of use and could have used a quick vacuuming). Towels are not replenished unless you take your old to the front desk and got new. 3 days would have been good…8 days between service was unacceptable.
NO-​SMOKING: The clientele that stay here probably smoke. It is no smoking place but our comforter had a cigarette hole in it! That means that not only did someone smoke but they were so drunk or fell asleep and their cigarette burnt a hole in the comforter. Now, the room did NOT smell of smoke. And I did frequently see people smoking outside and not in the hotel. We sometimes smelled smoke in the halls, and the smokers would congregate outside the exit door, which wasn’t pleasant, as we were leaving for the morning.
No hangers: They provide a space for you to hang stuff but no hangers. Very strange. This is a place where they are supposed to be tailored to having you stay a while… so you would think a simple thing like hangers would be appropriate.
NO POOL, No HOT TUB: NO WEIGHT room: We were pre-​warned about this when we called beforehand and asked… so it wasn’t unexpected.
**THE GOOD**
The STAFF: The people we dealt with (Vilma, Tasha) were very friendly and accommodating. They tried to help in every way they could.
The PATRONS: Because of the people that are attracted to this kind of hotel (Contractors and sub-​contractors) the patrons are orderly and quiet. No kids screaming and running down hallways, no loud music, no problems.
THE WINDOWS: Double sets of windows keeps noise out!
The WINDOW TREATMENTS: Room darkening treatments were excellent.
WELL LIT OUTSIDE: There are BRIGHT lights pointing toward the hotel. Good for safety.
**THE «OK”**
ROAD NOISE: Ok, this place is on a busy road most of it facing a major interstate with lots of semi’s. It is loud with the windows open. But they have double sets of windows and they really block out road noise!
SMELL: The rooms smell… not bad but you have to understand that there is a range in all the rooms and if the tenant before you was cooking bacon all week, the room is going to smell like it even after cleaning.
FREE BREAKFAST: It is some oatmeal packs, bananas and oranges, pre-​wrapped muffins and protein bars.
THE ROOM: We had a queen room. It was ok. The bed was comfortable. The easy chair seemed like something out of a public place. Stove had 2 burners (electric). Regular size fridge/​freezer. Small microwave. The bathroom had the toilet, sink, vanity & shower in the same bathroom.
CLEANLINESS: It was «ok». We bring our own disinfectant spray with us to ALL hotels. Overall it was relatively clean. Not great, but not the worst we’ve stayed in.
LOCATION: Some people complain about the location but it is within 3 miles of some amazing restaurants, IKEA, malls, coffee houses,